Corrupted Lungs
"Everyone makes mistakes. Some have echoes that last forever." - Littlecloud to Jayfeather in "Fading Echoes"
Water. There was water, swirling around his once powerful frame, with its tendrils of darkness wrapping around his neck in its killing act of suffocation. He was familiar with those shadows too, shadows of the past. They had found him. They were going to take him.
He tried to struggle, but he was too weak. He was always too weak.
He opened his mouth, sharp fangs once white as snow now yellowed and broken. He tried to breathe, but his lungs had long since been corrupted, and they would not allow him. Instead, water flooded into his mouth, desperate to cleanse him of his eternal shames. The act, however, was futile.
The shadows, long and dark, wrapped around his foreleg, tainting his long claws pitch black in a dark representation of blood. They trailed up his leg and his long tail, and poured over his broad shoulders. His fall, once slow and steady, seemed to stand still.
They would never accept a cat so evil as you. The shadows seemed to say, brushing him with deceitfully soft paws. Again, he tried to struggle, tried to break free, but the darkness was too strong.
He was going to die. And when he died, the Dark Forest would come for him, telling lies of family and hope in death.
Pained acceptance took over, and his eyes closed.
Suddenly, a burst of light appeared above, and the vigilant leader had to open his old amber eyes to see the cause. A small body, as weathered and damaged as his own, swam downwards, emitting a golden light, his eyes of frost shining with a resolve to save his leader.
His medicine cat risked death to save him.
Hope filled him once again for the first time since the ending of the Great Battle. The light of his pure savior chased those shadows away, and his small paws found his own, much larger ones. The small cat swam beneath his body and pushed upwards. Blue eyes met amber.
Swim. That was his medicine cat's command.
He obeyed.
His muscles screamed out in protest, his shadows shrieked as they tried to come back to claim him for the Forest, but his savior's light was too brilliant. The leader gasped for breath as his head broke through the surface of the water. His lungs, though still corrupted, found breath at last.
His savior pulled his leader by the scruff higher onto the land, for the leader was too weak to carry his own body forward. The once great cat slumped onto the dry ground, with his medicine cat, tired yet devoted, desperately shoving herbs his way. He was aware of bodies beyond his savior, of voices and concern, but he could only focus on his medicine cat.
"They came…" he whispered, voice hoarse and marred, strained by many years of commanding and lying. His medicine cat laid his small paw on his leader's cheek. Warmth seeped through him from the point of contact, and his muscles began to relax. He forced his head down, though remained looking at his savior in the eye. "The Dark Forest came...for me…" His eyes grew wild. "Is it my destiny to go there, Littlecloud?"
"Blackstar…" The small cat murmured, his rasping tone still containing some semblance of birdsong despite the trials he endured. His paw still rested on his leader's cheek, stroking the damp fur softly. "I cannot tell you your destiny, but you've done many good things as leader. I do not think StarClan will deny you." He then pushed the herbs closer, and Littlecloud knelt down closer to his leader. "Eat these, please, old friend."
Blackstar snarled and pushed them away. Littlecloud's ears folded back against his head, though he did not say anything. He turned and murmured some things to the deputy - Rowanclaw? - and the ginger tom took whatever warriors away with him. Littlecloud remained at his leader's side, tail stroking his broad white back. A cough seized Blackstar.
"Doesn't evil always linger, though, Littlecloud?" Blackstar heaved, his muscles tensing once again. "Brokenstar...banishment…." his eyes widened so that the whites could be seen. "Those poor kits...Badgerfang…" Was that his heart giving out? "Then Tigerstar...and..and noble Stonefur…"
Littleclouds soft tail brushed ever so lightly against his muzzle, hushing him in one smooth, careful, courteous act of forgiveness and affection. He nestled his face awkwardly into the twig-thin tail of his oldest living friend, and the medicine cat reached down to gingerly lap at his leader's ears.
"The Dark Forest was your greatest test, old friend," he whispered tenderly. "You fought BloodClan in the forest, you brought ShadowClan to their new home, you fought the Dark Forest, denied whatever promises they made. The evil you did was out of the good intentions of loyalty. And more than that, you brought ShadowClan to be respected again." His blue eyes shimmered brightly with warmth and sadness. "You're the only leader I've had that I'm not scared of."
Blackstar weakly looked up at him. Suddenly, a great wave of relief washed over him, a gentle bathing of warm light and care. It felt as if all of StarClan suddenly came and knocked a great burden off his scarred shoulders, fighting the shadows back into nothingness, fighting for him.
He felt forgiveness.
He felt StarClan's forgiveness.
Littlecloud's forgiveness.
His own forgiveness.
He looked up at Littlecloud, and the medicine cat noticed a flicker of life in his dying leader's eyes. The small cat let out a pained purr, laying down beside his leader and pressing his muzzle to the older cat's head.
"Go proudly to StarClan, Blackstar. Shadowclan is safe now."
Finally feeling at peace, Blackstar buried his head in Littlecloud's scrawny chest and let the light take him.
AN: I haven't read "Bramblestar's Storm" yet, but I know Blackstar died in it (curse the Hunters for that!). This is sort of my own headcanon, where Blackstar never forgave himself of the past and he finds solace in Littlecloud, whom he sees as the purest cat in ShadowClan. This isn't a shipping fic. Think of it more as a brotherly/best friend bond.
And yes, I cried a bit writing this.
This was just going to be a one shot, but let me know if you want me to do more things like this. I might turn this into a collection of one-shots. ;)
-JR